Date Number 1, Make that 601
by runningwyld
Summary: Steve and Danny have been a couple for two weeks when Grace declares they need to go an official first date. This is the story of that date. While it is part of my "It's About Damn Time" universe and could be an insert for "Did You Mean It?", I believe it can stand alone. This is McDanno slash; however, there is nothing explicit, actual or implied.


Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of its characters and no infringement is intended.

A/N Cannon up to Season 7, Episode 8 Hana Komo Pae (Rite of Passage) - This story takes places two weeks after Steve shows up at Danny's door following the events at Grace's winter formal and the two admit they can't imagine loving anyone, man or woman, as much as they love each other, so they decide to take a chance and be together. (See my story "Did You Mean It?)

Apparently, even when you've entered into a committed relationship after knowing someone for more than six years, protocol still dictates that there be an official first date. At least that was what Grace insisted to Danny and Steve the previous evening. She'd made this proclamation as they, along with Charlie, sat on Steve's lanai eating the grilled fish and vegetables Steve prepared in the short amount of time it had taken Danny to go pick the kids up for the weekend.

It had only been two weeks since Steve had shown up at Danny's door and asked him if he had meant it when he told Steve to "pick a base." Admittedly, Danny made the statement in the heat of the moment after Steve and the rest of Five-0 saved Danny, Grace, and all the other attendees of the school dance from a group of terrorists. Apparently, Danny's off-hand statement had been enough to prod Steve into initiating a conversation that was long overdue. It led ultimately to the two men concluding they were more than just partners and friends and that they in fact wanted to build a life together. Since reaching that momentous decision, not a whole lot had actually changed. When their caseload allowed, they still spent most of their evenings as they always had, eating dinner and watching a game or movie on television. They did spend a good bit more time in conversation. Before, it was mostly Danny talking or ranting and Steve grunting the occasion response, but Danny had discovered that relationship Steve was a lot more open with his feelings than friendship Steve. While before, Danny had spoken 50 words to every one uttered by Steve, in the last two weeks the conversational load had been much more balanced. They'd also started exploring the new physical side of their relationship. Since being with another man was new to both of them, they were taking it slow, but they were definitely enjoying that new aspect of their association.

So, while they were both fully committed to their new relationship, the one thing they had not done was go out on a date. Sure, they'd had lunch or grabbed drinks with the rest of the team, but they had not been out alone at night as a couple. Part of that was because they were both guys who would rather hang out at home or with their friends than get all dressed up just to go to a crowed, overpriced restaurant and make small-talk. But Grace was adamant, so here Danny was, dressed in his nicest summer-weight suit, tying a tie that he realized he had not worn more than a few times in the last five years, and waiting for his date to pick him up. Not that he was the girl in this relationship, but Grace had insisted Steve pick Danny up at their house so she could make sure he was dressed appropriately for a first date. Cargo pants were specifically forbidden by the teenager. Since she had volunteered to babysit Charlie for the evening, they felt that conceding to her wishes was the least they could do.

Danny didn't know why he was nervous. It wasn't like this was a typical first date. Besides, it wasn't really nervousness he decided, more like anticipation. He was surprised to discover he was genuinely excited about the evening. Taking one last look in the mirror, he decided he looked pretty damn good for his age. Not as good as Steve would undoubtedly, but who did? The man was a gorgeous freak of nature. Smoothing his hair back one last time, Danny left his bedroom and entered the living room just as Grace was opening the door to Steve, Charlie jumping up and down beside her. His breath hitched at the sight before him and he stopped to lean against the wall and watch his three favorite people.

"Hey Uncle Steve, you look nice, very handsome." Grace was beaming. Steve was wearing a dark suit with a crisp, light blue dress shirt underneath. No tie, of course, but he definitely looked like he came straight from a _GQ_ cover shoot.

"Thank you, Grace. I'm glad I meet with your approval." He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he reached out to ruffle Charlie's hair. "Hey, buddy."

"Hi, Uncle Steve," Charlie eagerly replied. "Grace says you and Danno are going out, but we can't go with you because it's a date. But, I don't see why we can't go. We've been out together lots of times." Charlie gave Steve his best puppy dog eyes. It was a tried and true look that tended to get Steve to do anything the boy asked, like agreeing to let Charlie bury him up to his neck in sand. Danny had to admit he'd been pretty impressed that Charlie had been able to make it look like Steve had a mermaid's tail. He would be able to use the pictures he took as blackmail material for a long time to come.

Steve knelt down so he could look Charlie in the eye. "Buddy, you know how much Danno and I love spending time with you a Gracie. Didn't we spend last night hanging out together at my house?" Charlie nodded. "And didn't we spend this morning together at the beach?" When Charlie nodded again, Steve continued, "And, we had lots of fun. But, sometimes grown-ups like to go out alone, just the two of them."

"So they can get mushy?" Charlie asked. He scrunched up his face as if he found the idea slightly distasteful.

Steve laughed. "Yeah, so they can get mushy."

"Are you and Danno going to get mushy?" Even though they'd told Charlie they were dating now, they hadn't actually kissed in front of him and they hadn't shared a bed when Charlie had been there.

"Would that bother you if we did?"

Charlie nodded, "Uh-huh." Danny could see Steve's crestfallen expression. Before he could intervene though, Steve pulled Charlie closer. "Why, Charlie? Is it because we're both men?"

"No," came Charlie's immediately reply. "Why would I care about that? Kissing's just gross, that's all. Grace and Will do it all the time. It's yucky!"

"Hey, be quiet you little tattle-tale." Grace's face turned beet-red.

Before Danny could grill Charlie for more information about his sister and her boyfriend, Steve, laughed and pulled Charlie into a hug. "I promise Charlie that you won't always find kissing gross." He looked up and caught Danny's eye and grinned.

Danny took that as his cue and walked over to the small group. "Uncle Steve is right Charlie. Besides, you and Grace are going to have a lot of fun tonight." He looked at his daughter. "You and I will discuss all this kissing later." At Grace's shutter, he turned back to Charlie. "The pizza we ordered should be here any minute and Grace has promised to play at least three board games with you, read you two stories, and let you choose a movie to watch."

"Really?" Charlie drew the word out. He obviously was not convinced that his sister could be trusted to actually play with him once they were alone.

"Yes, really," Danny assured him. "Right, Grace?" Although Grace had volunteered to babysit, Danny had promised her $20 if she actually entertained Charlie instead of just making sure he stayed alive.

Grace sighed. "That's right, Charlie. Danno even said you could stay up an extra half hour tonight. Plus, I know for a fact that there's cookie dough ice cream in the freezer for dessert."

Charlie perked up at the mention of his favorite ice cream. He looked at the two men and his sister thoughtfully, as if trying to decide if they were attempting to put one over on him. He must have decided Grace was offering sufficient compensation for not being allowed to go out with his father and honorary uncle because he finally agreed. "Okay. But, Uncle Steve, you'll here for breakfast in the morning, right?"

"I certainly hope so, buddy," Steve immediately said without thinking. At Grace's laugh and Danny raised eyebrow, Steve just shook his head. "Get your minds out of the gutter, both of you, there is a child present." He turned his attention back to the boy. "Yes, Charlie, I plan to be here for breakfast. I'll even pick up some malasadas and make you my special omelet to go with them."

"Yummy. Okay, you two can go out without me." Charlie graciously conceded.

"Why thank you," Danny told his son sarcastically, "but we don't actually need your permission, young man." Before Danny could explain the power structure between parent and child, the pizza arrived. After paying the driver and giving the kids final instructions for the evening, Steve and Danny left for their date.

As they neared the Camaro, Danny automatically tossed the keys to Steve who caught them easily and climbed behind the wheel and put the key into the ignition. Danny slid into the passenger seat and closed the door. The two men immediately turned and leaned across the console to kiss. When the kiss quickly became heated, Danny groaned and pulled away. "Okay, Steven, as much as I do not find kissing gross, that is enough of that. This is a first date and I'm not that kind of fellow." He smiled when Steve leaned back against the seat, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths before opening his eyes again and starting the car. It thrilled him that he had that effect on Steve. It also thrilled him that Steve had the same effect on him.

"I made reservations at Morton's," Danny told him as he buckled his seatbelt. He was confused when Steve just laughed as he pulled out of the drive. "What, you don't like Morton's?" What was there not to like, the restaurant had great steaks for him, and great seafood for Steve.

"I love Morton's," Steve told him. "That's why I made us reservations there for tonight."

"Huh," Danny grunted. "I guess it didn't occur to either of us that the other might think he was supposed to plan our date?"

"It certainly didn't occur to me. I've never been on a first date in my life where I wasn't the one expected to plan it." Steve said as he pulled into the left lane to pass a car that apparently wasn't speeding quite enough.

"Me either," Danny told him. "I guess dating a guy is going to take some getting used to in more ways than the obvious."

"Well, we've been doing pretty good getting used to the obvious, so I think we'll figure this out too." Danny thought about the heated kiss the two shared moments earlier and had to agree that they'd been adapting pretty well indeed. Before he could get carried away with those thoughts, he cleared throat and got back to the topic at hand.

"At least we chose the same restaurant, so we know we are on the same page there."

"I tell you what," Steve said as he passed two more cars. "I'll be gracious about this and let you take the lead for the rest of the evening."

"Oh, no. No, no, no." Danny's hand sliced through the air in emphasis. "You're just saying that so I will have to pay for dinner. I have known you too long for that to work on me, Steven. Absolutely not."

"So I have to pay? How is that fair?" When Danny just shrugged, Steve suggested, "Maybe we should just go Dutch."

Danny was appalled. "We cannot go Dutch, you numbskull, this is a date." Sometimes Steve really was clueless. Go Dutch on a first date. No wonder the man had only been in one serious relationship in his entire life. "We are not going Dutch. The only question is, how do we decide who pays?"

"We're men, so I guess we decide it like men," Steve told him.

"Are you suggesting we arm wrestle for the check?" Danny could picture Steve sweeping the dessert dishes aside and asking a waiter to referee their one-armed battle to decide which of them would pay.

"No, Danny, I'm not suggesting we arm wrestle. We'll just flip a coin. Winner pays tonight and the loser has to plan and pay for our second date."

"Pretty confident there, babe, already expecting me to agree to a second date."

Steve reached over and gave Danny's left hand a squeeze. "Not confident, just optimistic." The look in Steve's eyes just about turned Danny into a puddle of goo right there in the Camaro. Maybe he was the girl in this relationship after all if one look from Steve could make his heart melt like that.

"Oh, there will be a second date, you can count on that." The grin that simple statement put on Steve's face reminded Danny that the other man still needed reassurance that Danny was happy with the change in their relationship and committed to making it work. "You know, babe, this isn't really our first date."

"What are you talking about? Did you not hear Grace when she explained that dinner and TV at home do not qualify as a date?"

"Yes, thank you very much, I heard my teenage daughter with her vast dating experience make that statement, and while I might disagree with her on that point, I was not actually talking about the last two weeks."

"Now you've completely lost me. If nothing we've done in the last two weeks qualifies as a date, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the roughly 600 times before tonight we've spent time alone together doing things that had we not had our heads up our asses we would have realized were actually dates. For example, the time you took me on the hiking trip to see the ancient graffiti."

"Petroglyphs."

"Whatever, or the time we went deep sea fishing, or the times we've gone surfing, or paddle boarding, or cooked dinner together, or sat on your lanai watching the sunset. Steven, I hate to break it to you, but we have been dating practically since we met."

"Huh. So this isn't our first date?"

"If you figure just two dates a week for six years, it is more like our six-hundred and first."

"Well damn. When did you realize this and why are you just now getting around to telling me?" From the look Steve shot him you would think he had just found out Danny had superpowers and had neglected to tell him.

"It's not like I've known the whole time, I just figured it out myself. As you might expect, I have been doing a lot of thinking since you showed up at my door two weeks ago and declared your undying love for me."

"I did not declare my undying love for you."

"Oh, excuse me, but yes you did. But, that's okay because I declared mine right back." That seemed to satisfy Steve because the grin was back. The man really did need constant reassurance. Danny supposed it was understandable; every person Steve had ever loved had left him in one way or another.

"Okay, go ahead and explain to me how we've been dating for the last six years."

"Well, grasshopper, Meriam-Webster defines a date as a social engagement between two people that often has a romantic character."

"Why am I not surprised you looked it up in the dictionary?" Steve shook his head, but the smile remained on his face.

"Do you want to hear this or not?"

"Yes, I most definitely do, but it's going to have to wait because we're here." Danny realized they had reached the restaurant. Steve pulled up in front and put the car in park. As they exited the car a young man ran over and gave Steve a valet ticket. Danny was waiting for him as he came around the front of the car and they entered the restaurant together.

After they were seated and had placed their orders, they sat drinking a very nice pinot noir. "So explain to me how this is not actually our first date."

Danny leaned back in his chair and lifted his glass to watch the wine as he made it swirl up the sides. He got lost in his memories for a moment before he set the glass down and answered Steve. "Well, like I said, once we decided to do this," he indicated himself and Steve, "I let myself think about things, about us, in a way I really never allowed myself to do before. Once I gave myself permission to think about you and our relationship in a romantic sense, a lot of things became much clearer and I realized we'd both been oblivious idiots for way too long."

"For instance?" Steve put his wineglass down and gave Danny his complete attention. It was a heady feeling because Steve was always keenly aware of his surroundings—always on the lookout for potential threats or danger. But, tonight, Danny could tell Steve's complete focus was on him and what he was saying.

"For instance, how many times have we sat cuddled up on your couch watching a movie?"

"Hmmm," Steve considered the question for a moment, "a lot." Steve's arm around Danny and Danny's head on Steve's shoulder was their preferred viewing position, even when they weren't alone.

"Exactly, and how many times has one of us cooked dinner for the other without even thinking about inviting anyone else to join us?"

"A lot," Steve answered again.

"And, how many times have we gone hiking, or to the beach alone instead of double-dating with our girlfriends?"

"A lot."

"And, how many times when we did double-date did we end up spending most of the time talking to each other?

"Usually. Okay, I see what you mean. How in the world did it take us so long to realize what we felt for each other?" Steve shook his head in disbelief.

"Hell, I don't know, but we finally pulled our heads out of our asses and here we are, on our first _official_ date."

"But, not our first _actual_ date." There was no longer a question in Steve's tone. He was simply stating a fact.

"Not by a long shot, babe." They sat there smiling at each other for several moments. They probably looked so dopy in love that no one in the restaurant would mistake their being there together as anything other than a date.

"Danny?" Steve raised his wine glass in the universal gesture of a toast, so Danny raised his in response. "Here's to our date tonight, the 600 dates that have gone before, and to a lifetime of dates to come."

Danny let out a quick chuckle. Who knew Steve could be such a romantic? "I'll drink to that." After they both took a sip of their wine, they automatically leaned in for a quick kiss. When they leaned back they were both smiling. The couple didn't realize they had just exhibited their first public display of affection.

When their dinner was served a few minutes later, they were both still smiling as they talked, never at a loss for conversation. At one point Steve glanced up from his dinner with a look on his face that was somewhere between pleased and vulnerable. "I think this is going very well," he told Danny.

"Our date?" Danny asked with his fork half-way to his mouth. "I agree. My steak is excellent and the company's not too bad either." He placed the bite of food in his month and chewed.

"No, well yes, our date, but I meat this," Steve gestured to the two of them. "Us, I think it's going very well." Steve took a sip of his wine.

"Are you surprised?" Danny really wanted to know because Steve risked a lot coming to him two weeks ago if he seriously didn't think things would work out between them.

"A little, yes. I mean I wanted this, I had for a while. But, it was a big risk because the last thing I would ever want to do is ruin our friendship. Like I said that night, you are the most important person in my life and if all we could ever be is friends then I'd accept it and consider myself lucky. Besides, I didn't know what I'd been missing, but now I do, and I'm really glad we decided to give this a shot."

Danny set his fork down on the edge of his plate and laid his hand, palm up, on the table in an obvious gesture. Steve, taking his cue, placed his hand in Danny's. "Steve, I'll admit that when you show up at my house two weeks ago telling me you wanted more out of our relationship, I was scared to death. Like you said, you are the best friend I have ever had and it would kill me to lose that friendship. But this, this is so much more. And, no, I don't just mean the physical side, I mean everything. There's a freedom in us being together. We don't have to hold anything back. It's good and I am really happy about where we are right now and where this is headed."

"Me too."

After dinner, Steve tipped the valet to let them leave the Camaro parked while they walked a couple of blocks to a nightclub that played live jazz on the weekends. They spent an hour enjoying both the music and being out in public together as a couple. Danny was surprised to find he was not at all uncomfortable with strangers knowing they were together. Steve was about as far from uncomfortable as it was possible to be, he was practically beaming. Eventually, though, they decided it was time to head home because they knew Grace would not go to bed until she'd had a chance to grill them about their date.

Once they pulled up in front of Danny's house, they excited the car, and walked side-by-side to the front door. Before Steve could unlock the door with Danny's key, Danny reached up and pulled him down into a heated kiss. Steve's groan only emboldened Danny to deepen the kiss. When they reluctantly pulled apart several minutes later, Danny's voice was rough when he thanked Steve for dinner. "I promise our next date will be just as nice."

"I'm counting on it. Now we better get inside before Grace comes out looking for us."

Once again Danny stopped Steve before he could unlock the door. "Stay tonight."

"Really? But, the kids are here."

"Well, you already promised Charlie you would be here for breakfast. You'll have to run out and get the malasadas you promised, but if I know you, you will be up well before him anyway."

"What about Grace? I don't want to set a bad example. She's at an impressionable age."

"That's sweet, but Grace loves you and she knows we love each other. If this was just casual it would be a different story, but this is definitely not casual. Besides, all I'm offering is sleep. I had a really great time tonight and I would like to end it sleeping in my boyfriend's arms."

"Boyfriend, huh? That's strange, but I think I like it." Steve gave Danny another quick kiss. "Alright, I'll stay. Now we really should go in because I'm pretty sure I just saw that blind move."

This time Danny was not the one who stopped Steve before he could unlock the door. Grace did that when she swung the door open, obviously tired of waiting for them to actually come inside. "Would you two quit making out and come inside already and tell me about your first date. Obviously, it went well." She smirked and they both kissed her on the cheek as they entered the house and she closed the door behind them.

"Well, Grace-face, according to Danno here, this was not our first date," Steve informed her.

Grace looked from Steve to her father and back again, confusion clearly written on her face. "It wasn't?"

"Nope. Apparently, it was approximately our 601st date."

Grace considered the men for several moments. "Yeah, that sounds about right. I'm just glad you two finally figured it out."

"We are too, Gracie. We are too." Danny threw one arm around his daughter's shoulders and reached for Steve with the other. He steered them both over to the couch were they all collapsed in a heap. "So, about our first _official_ date, did you know that when two men who have only ever dated women go out on a first date, they both assume they are the one in charge of planning it?"

Grace laughed so hard tears came to her eyes, "Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. What did you end up doing?"

"We settled it like men, of course," Steve told her.

"So what did you do, arm wrestle for the check?"

There was no denying that Grace was Danny's daughter. Danny's mind wandered as he listened to Steve telling Grace all about their date. Having Steve and both his kids with him under one roof was everything Danny could ever hope for. For the first time in his life he actually felt optimistic about the future. He decided that this must be what it felt like to really be happy, better even, to be content. Who knew that one slightly insane, totally loyal, six-foot super-SEAL was what he had been missing all his life? Maybe Steve was not the only insane one in this relationship. That was okay, he and Steve could be insane together.

 _End._

A/N/ I can't believe I'm posting another story already, but I've kind of fallen in love with this universe and ideas keep coming to me. Besides, I've had a lot of fun writing them. It's a nice break from legal pleadings and briefs, which make up the majority of my prior writing. Thanks for reading.


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